Ladder-bracket.



M. V. RUSH. LADDER BBAUKET. AHLIOATION nun mm: a, 1910.

e r Witnesses Attorneys Patented Apr. 4, 1 9 I 1.

MARTIN V. RUSH, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA.

LADDER-BRACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

Application filed June 3, 1910. Serial No. 564,791.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN V. RUSH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Ladder-Bracket, of which the following isa specification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improvedconstruction of ladder bracket the invention aiming pr1- marily toprovide a bracket which may be readily applied to an ordinary ladder andwhich will be arranged for the support of one end of a run board.

One of the salient features of the present invention resides in the factthat the bracket is so constructed that when applied upon a ladder inposition to support one end of a run board, a workman ascending the ladder may readily step from the ladder onto the board without having toclimb over the edge of the said board as is customary in practically allsuch devices now in use.

Another feature of the invention resides in so constructing the bracketthat it may be supported upon the ladder either projecting forwardlytherefrom or beneath the same so that where the ladder is comparativelylong and it is desired to position the run-board close to the wallagainst which the ladder is placed, the bracket may be mounted to liebeneath the ladder and so support the board.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention resides in theconstruction and arrangement of parts substantially as shown in theaccompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the bracket applied to a ladder, thebracket being so mounted upon the ladder as to project forwardlytherefrom. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing the bracketarranged in position beneath the ladder; and Fig. 3 is a. view in detailside elevation of one member of the bracket.

In the drawings, the bracket embodying the present invention isillustrated as consisting of two pivoted members, each of which isarranged to engage with the rungs of a ladder whereby it can besupported thereon, and of these members, one is illustrated asconsisting of a pair of bars 5 secured together in spaced relation andeach of these bars, adjacent to one end, is bent at right angleslaterally as at 6 and has the extremity of its bent portion upturned andoverbent as at 7 to afford a ladder-rung engaging hook. It will beobserved that the two portions 6 of this member of the bracket pro ectin opposite directions so that their hooks will engage a ladder rungadjacent the ends thereof and the main portions of the bars will extendeither forwardly or rearwardly from the ladder in a line at a pointsubstantially midway between the ends of the said rung. .The othermember of the device consists of a bar indicated by the numeral 8pivoted at one end between the ends of the bars 5 opposite their bentends 6 and near its other end, this bar 8 is twlsted so that its lastmentioned end portion will be in a plane at right angles to the plane ofits first mentioned or main portion. In order to adapt this lastmentioned member of the bracket for connection with a ladder rung, anumber of hook-members are secured upon its portions 9 and each of thesehook members is in the form of a short strip of bar metal indicated bythe numeral 10 and bent at each end to afford a hook bill,

one by the numeral 11 and the other by the numeral 12, the two bills ofeach hook member being of like formation but oppositely presented andthe bills 11 of each member being presented toward the end of the member8 whereas the bills 12 are presented toward the pivoted end of the saidmember. It will be observed that the hook members 10 are secured uponthe portion 9 of the bar 8 end to end and that the outermost one of thesaid members has its bill 11 embraced by the extremity of the saidportion 9, this extremity being bent up as at 13 for this purpose. Byreason of this construction and arrangement of the hook members and theportion 9 of the bar 8, the said hook members are firmly braced upon thebar and their securing rivets are relieved of strain to a considerableextent.

In mounting the device upon a ladder, the hooks 7 of the portions 6 ofthe bars 5 of the first described member of the bracket are engaged withone rung of the ladder and, where the bracket is to project forwardlyfrom the ladder as illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings, the bill 12 ofone or the other of the hook members 10 of the bracket is engaged withone of the rungs beneath the first mentioned rung depending of courseupon the angle of inclination of the ladder, it being expedient that themembers 5 be substantially horizontal so that the run board supportedthereon will be correspondingly held. Where it is desired however to somount the bracket upon the ladder that it will project rearwardlytherefrom or beneath the frame and correspondingly support a run board,the hooks 7 of the first described member of the bracket are engagedwith one of the ladder rungs and the bill 11 of one of the severaldouble billed hooks is engaged with a rung of the ladder above the oneust mentioned and with which the hooks 7 are engaged, this manner ofmounting the bracket being illustrated clearly in Fig. 2 of thedrawings.

It will be observed that with the bracket supported as in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, it is an easy matter for a workman to ascend the ladder andstep directly therefrom onto a run board supported by the firstdescribed member of the bracket and in this respect, the device presentsa decided advantage over devices which can only be supported in advanceof a ladder.

It will be observed from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawingsthat the bars 5 of the bracket are so bent that their upper edges willbe slightly concaved. In other words, the outer portions of the bars 5are bent up at an obtuse angle to the inner Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

portions of the said bars as at 15 and as a result, when a boardsupported by the bracket is warped it may be disposed with its convex orbulged side resting upon the bars and in the concavity afforded by thebend 15 and will in this manner be supported against rocking oroverturning which would be liable to happen should the bars be formedwith their upper edges of right line extent.

What is claimed is A bracket of the class described comprising pivotedmembers, one of said'members being constructed at its free end forengagei'nent with a ladder rung, and a plurality of hooks carried by theother member, each hook having two bills and a connecting shank, thehooks having their shanks secured to the member and having their billsdisposed in contact, end to end, the free end of the said member beingbent into engagement with one bill of one end of one of the hooks.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoatfi-Xed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MARonLLUs A. CHIPMAN, SANFORD M. KELTNER.

Washington, D. C.

